Club Marine NSW Youth Match Racing Championship 2014 - The Cruising Yacht Club of Australia team of Harry Price and his crew of Angus Williams, Finn Gilbert and Owen Long have won the Club Marine NSW Youth Match Racing Championship in a sudden death grand final this afternoon.

'It’s a great result and our first major regatta win for this crew,' Price said this afternoon after defeating Milly Bennett and her Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club crew of Travis Thorn, Sam Stewart, Alice Tarnawski and Oscar Stranack in the grand final which was shortened to one match winner takes all due to time constraints.

'The final match was all over the place. We got a penalty at the bottom mark (for allowing too much room at the mark) and were able to wipe it off at the top mark,' Price said.

'We trailed the whole downwind leg until the last 30 seconds where we caught a gust at the pin end of the line and snuck away with the win by millimetres,' he added.

Early in the day however Milly Bennett had defeated Price in similar circumstances in their round robin match.

Price reflected further on his day: 'We won our first match and got off to a really good start in the westerly winds but then lost our second to Milly due to a few boat handling issues.

'In our semi-final against Malcolm (Parker) we got away to a decent lead in the first race and were never headed but the second race was much tighter.

'I’d like to thank Club Marine for their ongoing sponsorship of this regatta and look forward to competing in the Nationals later in the year,' Price added. By winning this Championship, Price has gained automatic entry into the Australian Youth Match Racing Championship that will be hosted by Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron later this year.

'It was tactically very challenging in the shifty conditions,' said Milly Bennett. 'We had a much better day today – we changed some crew positions around and Alice really stepped up.

'My best match of the day was definitely the last match of the semi-final defeating Sam (Ellis) to make our way into the grand final. It was very tight racing and could have gone either way.'

Rounding out the podium places was Malcolm Parker and his crew of Annie Wilmot, Dieter Knerim, Pia Doyle and Josh Dawson, representing the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club.

'I’m really happy with our third place. It’s a fresh team - we worked together well and had a really good vibe on the boat,' Parker said.

'The last race was when it all counted and we sailed our best. We had a good start, headed out to the left and got a lead on Sam (Ellis). From there we just had to protect our lead. Great race against a good competitor,' he added.

Race Officer Robyn Tames had another tough day battling shifty conditions and trying to push through the required matches. Conditions were in stark contrast to yesterday – light and shifty westerlies which swung 180 degrees to the east as opposed to gusty westerlies.

'We started in a six knot westerly and got two flights away before it swung to almost due east. By the end of the afternoon there were two different sets of breeze – one out of Rushcutters Bay and another out of Double Bay that were coming together in the course area and having a party,' Tames said

'The competitors handled themselves and the boats well in the tricky conditions – they just had to pick the shifts. They were prompt to enter the starting sequence and displayed good sportsmanship when penalties were awarded.

'Winds averaged 12-16 knots with a top gust of 24 knots. The sailors performed well in these conditions which are at the upper limits for match racing,' she added.

Club Marine has been the naming rights sponsor of the NSW Match Racing Championship since 2004 and has recently renewed its naming rights sponsorship of this regatta up to and including the 2016 edition. Club Marine also sponsors one of the Elliott 7 boats and the CYCA’s Club Marine Wednesday Twilight series.

Corey Yeung, Club Marine’s State Manager for NSW and Queensland presented prizes at this evening’s prizegiving and complemented the sailors on their performance.

'Congratulations to Harry Price and his team and to all competitors in this Championship. Club Marine is a proud sponsor of this regatta and as a company we see this as a perfect partnership to ensure the future development of youth sailing,' Yeung said.